Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses? Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

I'm not against making Cain the full time RFer for a couple years... Wait on guys like Eibner, Fletcher to see if they pan out... There are also options like hunter pence or colby rasmus that will be coming into FA... but with Lough and Cain, RF isn't really THAT big of a need when you have that gaping freaking hole at 2B still staring at us... And still need moar pitching.

I'm not against making Cain the full time RFer for a couple years... Wait on guys like Eibner, Fletcher to see if they pan out... There are also options like hunter pence or colby rasmus that will be coming into FA... but with Lough and Cain, RF isn't really THAT big of a need when you have that gaping freaking hole at 2B still staring at us... And still need moar pitching.

David Lough is not an everyday RF. If they can find a power bat in RF, they should do whatever they can to get that person in a Royals jersey because they need both.

Minor league outfield depth? Anyone with a fast riser in the system who is blocked?

The Dodgers (Joe Pederson) make some sense, as does Nick Castellanos of the Tigers. The Marlins also have an OF logjam and might be willing to move Justin Ruggiano. The only other team with position player logjam (the Rangers) probably just took care of a big piece of it.

The Royals Brett Eibner also bears watching... since June 1, he is:

.268/.333/.541

with 11 HR, 6 3B and 8 2B

It's the first time he has really succeeded as a hitter. It's possible the light has gone on for a guy with huge upside and RH power. It's also possible it's just a hot streak that doesn't mean anything.

David Lough is not an everyday RF. If they can find a power bat in RF, they should do whatever they can to get that person in a Royals jersey because they need both.

The only reason people say that is because the other position players are not producing enough power so they think we need to upgrade over a player who is producing because he plays a position that often holds power hitters. If that is not the case for you, what makes you think he isn't an everyday RF?

The Dodgers (Joe Pederson) make some sense, as does Nick Castellanos of the Tigers. The Marlins also have an OF logjam and might be willing to move Justin Ruggiano. The only other team with position player logjam (the Rangers) probably just took care of a big piece of it.

The Royals Brett Eibner also bears watching... since June 1, he is:

.268/.333/.541

with 11 HR, 6 3B and 8 2B

It's the first time he has really succeeded as a hitter. It's possible the light has gone on for a guy with huge upside and RH power. It's also possible it's just a hot streak that doesn't mean anything.

Nice. Thanks. I would imagine that the latter would necessitate Holland, which would be a bit tough in the division.

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by badgirl

If you met me in person and didn't know who I was you would never guess it was me.

The only reason people say that is because the other position players are not producing enough power so they think we need to upgrade over a player who is producing because he plays a position that often holds power hitters. If that is not the case for you, what makes you think he isn't an everyday RF?

The team is loaded with guys that are small and hit singles. They don't need any more of them. If they are going to look for someone to add in the OF, then David Lough is going to be the guy that goes every time. They aren't getting a lot of power from adding a guy at 2B and I don't think Gordon, Moose or Hosmer are going anywhere anytime soon.

The Dodgers (Joe Pederson) make some sense, as does Nick Castellanos of the Tigers. The Marlins also have an OF logjam and might be willing to move Justin Ruggiano. The only other team with position player logjam (the Rangers) probably just took care of a big piece of it.

The Royals Brett Eibner also bears watching... since June 1, he is:

.268/.333/.541

with 11 HR, 6 3B and 8 2B

It's the first time he has really succeeded as a hitter. It's possible the light has gone on for a guy with huge upside and RH power. It's also possible it's just a hot streak that doesn't mean anything.

At this point is Eibner going to be a ML Thirdbaseman or is he gonna be making a position switch before he gets here?